Montana State great Jan Stenerud adds Big Sky Hall of Fame induction to storied life

SPOKANE, Wash. — Dave Dickenson prides himself on his storytelling ability, but the former Montana star quarterback felt overshadowed on Saturday night.

Dickenson is one of 14 members of the Big Sky Conference’s inaugural hall of fame class, and he was one of eight who attended the Big Sky Hall of Fame Banquet on Saturday at the Davenport Grand hotel. About an hour before Dickenson sat down for the final inductee interview of the evening, Jan Stenerud just about stole the show.

The Big Sky inducted Stenerud for his standout ski and football careers at Montana State in the 1960s. Ski jumping brought Stenerud to Bozeman from Norway, but placekicking turned him into a legend.

Stenerud, 79, shared his remarkable football origin story multiple times on Saturday, along with his other favorite memories from his college and pro careers. He caused smiles and laughs throughout the banquet ballroom during his induction interview with the Big Sky’s Mariluz Cook.

While arguably the most famous person at Saturday’s ceremony, Stenerud showed no signs of annoyance or exhaustion from the steady stream of admirers. It helps that he was inducted into another hall of fame in the midst of a relaxing life in the two towns that made him immortal.

“I’m really proud and really humbled to be with this group,” Stenerud told 406mtsports.com on Sunday. “It’s almost difficult to find yourself deserving. It’s a very significant honor.”

Stenerud played soccer as a child in Norway but began to focus on skiing as a teenager. Ski jumping became his ticket to a college career in the United States, and MSU offered him a ski scholarship. When he became a Bobcat in 1962, he merely expected to compete for four years, get an education and return to Norway.

One day in the fall of 1964, Stenerud ran the bleachers of MSU’s football field, named Gatton Field at the time, as part of his ski training routine. MSU defensive back Dale Jackson was also there, and he invited Stenerud down to the grass.

Jackson also kicked for the Cats and used a square toe kicking technique. Stenerud showed Jackson how to kick with the side of his foot, like a soccer player. It was the first time in three or four years that Stenerud had kicked a ball, but all those years of soccer created a strong muscle memory. His right foot booted the football with accuracy and power.

Then-MSU men’s basketball coach Roger Craft was walking by as Stenerud kicked. Craft was so impressed, he told head football coach Jim Sweeney that he should give Stenerud a look. Sweeney, skeptical of a Norwegian skier’s bona fides, dismissed Craft at first. But Craft urged Sweeney again after seeing another impressive kicking display from Stenerud. Sweeney decided to see for himself.

Stenerud was doing some “light work,” as he recalled, the day before the final home football game of the 1964 season.

“I'd run the stadium steps, and I hear Sweeney yell, ‘Hey skier’ — he didn’t know my name — ‘Get your butt down here. I hear you can kick,’” Stenerud said Saturday. “He liked what he saw, and he asked me to suit up for pregame warmup the next day.”

Stenerud’s conference championship ski jumping career contributed to his MSU and Big Sky hall of fame inductions, but he became famous because of football.

“It’s not weird,” he said. “I know that American football is better known than ski jumping in this country.”

Stenerud made a 59-yard field goal in a win over Montana in 1965, the longest kick in football history up to that point (Stenerud recalled with a smile, as smartphones recorded him, that it took a week for MSU/local media to confirm that it was a record). The following season, he set the NCAA record for kick scoring (82 points) and the Big Sky record for extra points (49).

Stenerud was also inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after 19 NFL seasons, the first 14 of which he spent with the Kansas City Chiefs. He helped the Chiefs win Super Bowl IV, and he “altered the strategy of pro football offenses by his skill in driving the ball, like a soccer player, with the side of his awesomely powerful right foot,” the New York Times’ Bill Surface wrote in 1971.

Stenerud retired in 1985 and lived in Bozeman from 1986-88. He moved back to Kansas City to work in marketing for an architectural firm that designs stadiums and arenas. He still resides in Kansas City, where he mainly golfs and spends time with friends and his wife, Patty. Stenerud is also a member of the Kansas City Chiefs Ambassadors, a group of nearly 50 former Chiefs players who organize local fundraisers, scholarship programs and other charitable endeavors. He makes occasional public speaking appearances around the country as well.

“It sounds boring, but I’m not bored at all,” Stenerud said. “I feel like I’m busy enough.”

Stenerud often makes trips back to Bozeman. He was there in March of 2020 for the NCAA Skiing Championships at Bridger Bowl. That event was canceled on March 12 of that year as the COVID-19 pandemic had begun to upend life in the United States. Stenerud was planning to be in Boise two days later for the Big Sky Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The banquet ended up being postponed for 861 days. Stenerud didn’t mind.

“I didn’t think about it that much,” he said. “I knew it was going to happen again.”

The wait allowed Stenerud to hone his storytelling skills. He spent more time with media members than required on Saturday, discussing topics from Super Bowl IV to his marketing work to his golf game to his vacation in Bozeman from now through mid-August.

“I love Bozeman, Montana. I love Montana State,” Stenerud said. “I always will be a Bobcat.”

Among the people who attended Saturday’s banquet was longtime college and pro football coach Dennis Erickson, who played quarterback and coached at MSU. During his interview with Cook, Stenerud noted that Erickson held kicks for him when they played together with the Cats. Stenerud joked that Erickson has been missing a finger ever since.

Stenerud also gave shout outs to MSU athletic director Leon Costello, head football coach Brent Vigen, quarterback Tommy Mellott and defensive back Ty Okada, congratulating them on their 2021 Football Championship Subdivision runner-up performance (Vigen, Mellott and Okada are representing the Cats at this weekend’s Big Sky Football Kickoff). Earlier in the day, Stenerud regaled Mellott and Okada with his football origin story; one he’d told countless times before, told the media later that day and will tell countless times going forward with equal enthusiasm.

Who wouldn’t want to recount the moment they went from an anonymous ski jumper to a college and pro football hall of famer?